Duarte Benavente and Sami Seliö have just crossed seven borders and driven fifty hours to compete in the first round of the 2020 UIM F2 World Championship in Lithuania.
The veteran racers checked into their hotel based in Kaunus this afternoon and gave me a defiant message:
We are here to support our sport of powerboat racing!
Benavente from Portugal and Seliö from Finland who will be racing under the UAE flag this weekend with Team Sharjah can’t wait to hit the water.
However, Benavente is an old pro in a F2 boat, Seliö is more reserved:
UIM F2 is much different than I am used to in F1H2o, I did a race back in 2016…
The two time F1H2o world champion reflected:
It was pretty crazy!
Crazy or not, Seliö will be up against not only Benavente, but 8 other teams that have made the long journey to Lithuania.
2020 UIM F2 Grand Prix of Lithuania
| Country | Number | Driver | Hull | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | 2 | Johan Österberg | Molgaard | Mercury 200 XS |
| GBR | 3 | Owen Jelf | BaBa | Mercury 200 XS |
| GBR | 4 | Colin Jelf | Molgaard | Mercury 200 XS |
| SWE | 11 | Bimba Sjöholm | Molgaard | Mercury 200 XS |
| UAE | 17 | Sami Seliö | BaBa | Mercury 200 XS |
| LTU | 41 | Edgaras Riabko | DAC | Mercury 200 XS |
| POR | 45 | Duarte Benavente | Moore | Mercury 200 XS |
| LAT | 51 | Uvis Slakteris | Molgaard | Mercury 200 XS |
| LAT | 71 | Nikita Lijcs | ASV | Mercury 200 XS |
| MON | 74 | Giacomo Sacchi | BaBa | Mercury 200 XS |
